Winter Warmth
by Kalira69
Summary: Sakumo muscles his way back home through the lashings of a harsh winter to find a house full of moodily chilled and slow snakes . . . including the one in his bed.


Written for Naruto Rare Pair Bingo 2019, for the spaces 'animalistic traits' on Board A & 'weather/seasons' on Board B.

* * *

"Back?"

"Back."

"Wolf-mutt's back."

Sakumo closed the door and turned, looking for the source of the soft voices. With much less alarm than most people might - or should - display on hearing them, admittedly. "I'm back. Where's your summoner?" he asked after a moment, because the house was quiet and seemed still, other than the handful of snakes now approaching him.

Wordless, chiding hisses were his only answer, and one of the dull green bodies looped around his feet as Sakumo shed his mission gear and heavy outer coat, trying to get as much snow and ice off as possible before leaving the genkan. There was a low hiss as a shard of ice fell too close to one scaly curve.

"Come."

"Come, wolf-mutt!"

"Not like that though."

"Summoner-"

"Winter!"

"Summoner wouldn't want."

Sakumo stepped over the snakes as they began to argue, shaking himself to get off a bit more snow and then pausing to strip off another few layers. In any case they were cold and icy and if not wet it was only by the grace of the bitter temperature keeping every trace of moisture frozen solid - and soon would be as ice and snow melted. He shivered a little as the air rushed over him, shielded only by his too-thin undershirt and thicker, but now-loosened pants.

"Summoner wished for you."

Sakumo looked down, then crouched to one knee near the gleaming, dusky purple snake he recognised as Reina. "I missed him quite fiercely as well." he told her honestly. Reina hissed, slithering in a loop around his ankles and sliding over one foot with a mildly disapproving sort of sound, then trailing off deeper into the house.

Sakumo followed her willingly enough, frowning slightly. It wasn't uncommon for his lover to keep some of the snakes around, but this felt . . . strange.

He opened the door and stepped into the bedroom and-

"Oh, lovely, are you all right?" Sakumo asked, frown deepening. His - their - futon was a nesting heap of furs and thick blankets, and he could only see a narrow swathe of Orochimaru's face and a bit of his sleek hair within it. While there was no 'paler' for Orochimaru, no matter his condition, he looked drawn - and he was stiff as he moved enough for one golden eye to meet Sakumo's.

"_Winter._" Reina hissed snappishly, as though Sakumo were an idiot, just as the winter wind he had been battling as he ran through the trees all week lashed at the house, which creaked and rattled softly under its assault. Orochimaru extended one hand, moving with very little of his usual grace, as Reina approached him.

"Are you sick?" Sakumo asked as he came nearer, a chord of _help-worry-anxiety_ thrumming in his chest.

Orochimaru looked up at him again, stroking Reina's head lightly. "Just cold." he said in a soft rasp that was very unlike his usual tones. Sakumo looked at him hesitantly. "Reina is correct. It is . . . unpleasant," he paused, gaze flicking over Sakumo, "_alone_, but I am not unwell."

"It wasn't this bad, last winter." Sakumo said stupidly, realising even as Orochimaru arched a pointed brow at him that it had been a rather milder winter . . . and Orochimaru had not spent quite so much of it in his company, or his home, then. They had still been courting, in occasionally tentative steps. "I apologise, of course it wasn't. It's horrid out there. What can I do?"

He asked the question, but he was already stripping off his undershirt and the loose, chilled trousers, approaching the futon before Orochimaru shifted enough to nudge the heap of bedding he was hidden beneath. Not quite opening it to invite him in, but clear enough to read all the same.

Sakumo smiled and nudged his way in while taking care to offer as little disturbance to his lover's cocoon as possible, finding Orochimaru wrapped up in silk and wool under the blankets. He rubbed his hands together firmly before trying to touch, but let his fingers creep under the fabric his lover wore when he did. Orochimaru's breath caught, his face open and vulnerable, and Sakumo had to kiss and nuzzle him. Sakumo breathed in deeply as he did, a part of himself settling at the familiar scent of his lover, still overlaid with his own from their shared den, shared _bed_.

A soft hiss, too small to be Orochimaru, and Sakumo tipped his head to see Reina slithering nearer. Orochimaru reached for her again, and she coiled through his palm and fingers, allowing herself to be brought nearer. "Go home, my beauty," Orochimaru crooned to her, smoothing the fingers of his free hand over her sharp head, "before you get too chilled. You and the others."

Reina coiled around his hand and wrist once more, squeezing, and then Orochimaru dismissed her with a small puff of smoke. Sakumo heard the barely-there sounds of several more airy pops from the rest of the house, no doubt the other snakes that had been all but waiting in ambush for him.

"I need to leave some of the pack with you when I head out in winter." Sakumo suggested, fighting the twitching of his lips towards a smile. Orochimaru hissed, baring his teeth but not showing the long, deceptively delicate arc of his fangs. Sakumo crooned and rubbed his nose along Orochimaru's cheek, prompting a softer, more human-sounding hiss as Orochimaru shifted stiffly.

One long-fingered hand splayed over Sakumo's chest, slightly chill. He covered it with his own, rubbing gently. "Not to watch over you or anything - I'm more than aware you don't need protecting, my dangerous lovely," he said, and Orochimaru huffed, probably at the possessive claim, but didn't protest, lean body curling closer still, "just to keep you warm when you need it."

"I am not so very vulnerable." Orochimaru said with another soft huff. "Today was spent in too-exposed locations," he paused, "at Jiraiya's insistence." he added dryly, jaw pressing firmly against Sakumo's shoulder. He growled unhappily, and Orochimaru hummed, petting his chest with a light touch. "Foolish wolf."

Sakumo snorted and wrapped an arm around Orochimaru, hand sliding up his spine over layered fabric. Orochimaru's voice was fond and affectionate, whatever words he chose, and his body pliant as he slowly leeched warmth from Sakumo's body, twining closer. "He should show more care for his oldest friend." Sakumo said with a possessive flash of irritation.

He could share his lover with those important to Orochimaru, if he must, certainly, but it pricked at him when they didn't seem to cherish the one so beloved to him deeply enough.

Orochimaru bit his shoulder and Sakumo made an interested sound, drawing it into a whine. "You are impossible." Orochimaru said, but there was a low laugh in his voice, and he bent a little more as he spoke, twining their legs together and hooking one thigh over Sakumo's hip.

Sakumo didn't answer, only burrowed his face against Orochimaru's hair and the side of his face, and brought both hands around his back. A bit of pressure easily cracked open a healing wound on his knuckle and in a moment he used the fresh blood to summon three of his wolves.

Orochimaru twitched, twisting to look behind himself, and Sakumo held out one hand as his pack closed around them with no need for questions. Orochimaru sighed, sounding quite put-upon, but there was a gentle curve to his mouth as he relaxed in Sakumo's embrace once more, not protesting as he was hemmed in by Sakumo and two of the wolves, even when the heavy weight of a huge muzzle slanted over his ribs.

"Foolish, overprotective wolf." Orochimaru said with a fond lilt, almost directly in his ear, as the third wolf settled at Sakumo's back.

Sakumo grinned and gently nipped Orochimaru's jaw. "Tetchy, lovely, stubborn snake." he replied, and if Orochimaru's voice was tinged with fondness, his own was warm and thick with it to the point of adoration. He wasn't built to hide such feelings, and some time in the past year, while he was hardly sparing it any mind, Sakumo had gone beyond simply _lover_ to feel Orochimaru belonged as his mate.

Orochimaru wriggled in his arms, pressing a little closer and closing him in a snug embrace in return, and Sakumo closed his eyes, sighing contentedly and letting the weariness from his mission lull him into lax repose, now he was safely returned to his den and his mate's arms.


End file.
